


Undertale: HARD MODE

by CookiesVersusCream



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Murder, POV Second Person, There should probably be more tags but I cant think of them rn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-04
Updated: 2018-11-04
Packaged: 2019-08-17 10:45:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16514861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CookiesVersusCream/pseuds/CookiesVersusCream
Summary: An encounter, both familiar and new all at once.





	Undertale: HARD MODE

**Author's Note:**

> So I don't even remember writing this, but I found it while going through my google docs, and figured why not post it? After all, Undertale is cool again.

_Do you get what I’m saying? That promise I made to her… you know what would have happened if she hadn’t said anything? Buddy… **you’d be dead where you stand.**_

You feel your heartbeat race as you exit the ruins. The winter air is refreshing in comparison to the stagnant air of the ruins, but it makes your heart beat even faster. The forest that once filled you with wonder now just seems eerie, and the unease passes through you like the cold air passing through your lungs.

 _Will he keep his promise this time?_ After all, the monsters you encountered were different, and their attacks were significantly harder to dodge than the previous times you had gone through the ruins. Not to mention that Toriel had given you snail pie instead of butterscotch-cinnamon pie. Oh, something else that’s different! You notice a SAVE point lingering right outside the door to the ruins.

That’s certainly not a good sign.

You are sure to SAVE, then you take a step forwards, then another, your footprints leaving dents in the previously pristine snow.

Just as you feared, you suddenly feel your SOUL become heavy, and you crash into ground. The coldness from the snow comes as a shock, and you barely have time to get yourself together before a row of bones appears below you. You manage to avoid the attack just in time to prepare yourself for the gaster blasters, which you also deftly dodge. _His strongest attack._

You hear something behind you and turn around. Sans is standing there, and you notice that there are no footprints near him. His constant smile reveals as much as ever – which is to say, not much. “So,” He says, in his usual drawl, “You must be the anomaly, huh?”

 _What do you do?_  
> _Apologize_  
> _Say nothing_

You sigh. You know that each option will result in a slightly different response, but either choice won’t alter what happens next as a whole. So you decide to cut the bullshit.

“I need your help.”

Sans cocks an eyebrow, or at least does the approximation that a skeleton can accomplish. “And tell me, a being so powerful that could break the barrier, set everyone free, betray their friends, kill _my brother_ and every other monster they came across, then destroy the universe, would come crawling back to this sorry sack of bones because…?”

“I didn’t destroy the universe. That wasn’t my idea.”

“So _murdering Papyrus_ wasn’t your idea either?”

“It wasn’t! Well, it was but…” You aren’t exactly sure how to answer that question, and your voice trails off. “You know the story of the first fallen human?”

“Don’t try to change the subject on me, kid.” Sans's smile now looks more like a grimace.

“Trust me, I’m trying to explain.”

“Oh? And why should I trust you, of all people. After you DUSTED HIM-”

“Toriel couldn’t stand the thought of their body rotting away in the coffin Asgore had made for the fallen children,” you continue, cutting Sans off. “She thought that they deserved a proper human burial. So she took their body to the ruins, and buried them where the only patch of sunlight came into the Underground. The seeds from the golden flowers stuck to their sweater, and soon a bunch of them blossomed over their grave.”

Sans seems to have calmed down, though you would bet that he’s barely keeping himself restrained. “Toriel who?” he asks.

“The queen. The woman you talk to behind the door.”

Sans laughs. It’s too dry to be a real laugh, but the noise catches you by surprise anyways. “Wow kid, just how much did I tell you?”

 _How do you respond?_  
> _Say a lot_  
> _Say only a little_

You thought you established that you had enough of these meaningless options. So instead you say, “Not a lot that I didn’t already know.”

“Well, I have a reputation of being a bum to keep, y’know.” He declares, his voice bright. “So are you gonna continue with your story, or will I have to continue trying to kill you? Because quite frankly, the second option sounds exhausting.”

You have to admit, there was a point where his sense of humor stopped being funny. Probably because he wasn’t kidding when he made jokes like these. You don’t doubt his ability to carry out on his word (you definitely had gotten lucky during your 183rd battle), and it’s only polite to finish a story that you had begun.

“The soul of the first fallen human remained in those flowers. And the first time I fell into them, it latched onto mine. I was the only human with enough determination for them to do so. At first, they weren’t mean at all. They were quite friendly even! They told me about the different monsters and made puns,” You explain. “But after everyone was set free except for Asriel, they became despondent. They begged me to reset, to go back and see if there was anything I could do differently. Then they became bitter. They thought he was right… about the world being ‘Kill or be killed.’ It…”

“Wait, Asriel came back as the flower? What the hell are you talking about?”

You don’t even hear Sans’s questions as your body begins to shudder. “They… They… There was constant screaming in my head. And the only way to get it to stop was to… I didn’t want to do it Sans! I-I di-didn’t want t-to reset and k-k-kill everyone! But it was the only way… the only way… I tried to say no when they wanted to erase the world. But then- but then…” You completely break down, your blubbering becoming incoherent even to you. Sans isn’t quite sure of what to make of it – he just watches you with a confused expression on his face, his smile gone. 

_How do you feel about Sans not believing y-_

Your vision goes red, as if the world has become a stage with a single crimson spotlight shining on it. You feel your lips moving without you telling them to. You feel contorted laughter escaping your throat, rising like bubbles through boiling mud. You – no, not you – dash towards Sans.

The last thing you feel is a searing pain in your chest.

0~0~0

You appear at the SAVE point, grasping at where Sans impaled you. In your panic, you accidently lean too far forwards into it, and you fall into the snow. This time, you don’t even register the frigid water seeping into your clothing.

Sans doesn’t bother hiding this time around. He stands on the path in front of you, then approaches until he’s looming over you. “Care to explain what that was all about?” He’s dropped the drawl in favor of something more flat and foreboding.

“I… I got emotional. That must’ve let them take over.”

“Look kid, I have no interest in doing this song and dance again. If you can’t get your act together, then I…” He stops speaking as he thinks of something he can say.

“You’ll do what? You can’t exactly prevent an outbreak.”

“I’ll kill you as many times as I need to.”

“I promise I’ll try my best so it doesn’t come to that.” Albeit the situation, you can’t help but smile when you say those words.

You doubt it’s a real smile though.

**Author's Note:**

> I have no idea what I was originally going for when I wrote this, but if you would like to see more, please leave a comment! I will try my best to come up with what happens next.


End file.
